What is Autism?

Autism is a lifelong, complex neurobiological disorder for which there is currently no documented cure. It crosses a spectrum that ranges from relatively mild difficulties to extreme conditions involving severe language delay; repetitive and/or anti-social behavior, and even aggressive and/or self-injurious behavior. Symptoms of autism change across the life course. An autism diagnosis involves deficits in three core areas: social interaction, use of language, and behavior and interests. Researchers are scrambling to determine whether autism is linked to genetics, environmental factors or a combination of both.

Recently in New York City,at Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall the ‘Genius of Autism’ honored 16 enormously talented autistic youth for their accomplishments in the fields of music, visual arts, poetry and athletics. Presented by the McCarton Foundation for Developmental Disabilities.

2011 GENIUS OF AUTISM HONOREE – RJ Peete (age 13) wrote the song “Come Into My World” that he performs with his mom Holly Robinson-Peete (Produced by Babyface Edmonds–video is here: http://www.hollyrod.org/).

Here is a video clip of RJ Peete’s acceptance speech and comments from his very proud grandmother, Delores Robinson.